Here is the opening statement District 205 director of athletics Mat Parker made to the local media this afternoon before taking questions about the fight after Jefferson's last-second regional basketball victory over East on Tuesday at Belvidere North:

"Clearly from the District's standpoint, the behavior was unacceptable. We had a great contest with a terrific ending. Unfortunately, what occurred after the game was completely unacceptable. This goes against everything that is taught and preached to our student athletes. It goes against the behavior we see every day in our classrooms and at practice and the basketball courts and the playing fields.

"Normally our student-athletes and students in our building do the right thing. They make the right choices even in high pressure circumstances, such as last night. They act correctly in victory and in disappointing losses. So again, this is a very abnormal event that occurred last night."

Parker said he and the district's director of security met with administration officials from East and Jefferson from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

"We reviewed four different pieces of video as well as about 40 statements that we took," Parker said. "It was very important for us to move swiftly and render consequences according to our school code of conduct today before the end of the school day."

Parker said he was in contact with Kurt Gibson from the IHSA "multiple times" today.

"We have sent them a full report, both from East as well as Jefferson, and also sent them additional video that they did not have access to to review last night's unfortunate events. Our understanding is the IHSA will complete their investigation and make their decisions as far as consequences for Friday night's game either later today or tomorrow morning."

No. 2 seed Jefferson will play No. 1 seed Huntley for the regional title Friday at Belvidere North. Police said four policemen will be at the game.

Parker had no criticism for East coach Roy Sackmaster and Jefferson coach Todd Brannan, who both waded into the middle of the melee to try and pull their own players away.

"The coaches made every attempt to stop the situation," Parker said.

"We were trying to keep anyone from being seriously hurt," Brannan said.

"My only goal," said East athletic director Michael Armato, who also tried to break up the fight, "was the safety of all children."

In 1992, the NIC-9 moved 11 conference football games to Saturday afternoon after a fight broke out at one Friday night game in 1991. Parker said there was no reason for any such drastic action after this incident.

"This is a very rare occurrence," Parker said. "Last Friday, there was a sellout game at Auburn High School. Everybody acted wonderfully before, after and during the game.

"We all make mistakes in our lives. We see situations like this, not just in college, but in the pros. People make poor decisions. I'm not worried about the direction we're going. We're going in a very positive direction, but we're human beings and no one is perfect."